Gear-shifting apparatus



Nov, u, l9;24.`v

1,515,575 M. W. GELETTE Y GEAR SHIFTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 15, 1924' 4sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR WITNESS: l ATTORNEY Nw, u, 1924.

M. W. GELETTE GEAR SHIFTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16 l924 4 Sheets-Sheet2 v INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

M. W. GELETTE GEAR SHIFATING APPARATUS' Nav.. l

1924 4 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 16

NN MN u INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

Nm), il, 1924.

M. W. GELETTE GEAR SHIFTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet4 lllov., il,

EIARSELL W. GELETE, GF NEW BEDFORD, vASSACEUSETTS.

onansnmrnvo errene'rfos.

Application atleti anuary 16, 19%. Serial Efo. 686,686.

To all whom t may cof/wem:

Be itknown that l, MARSHALL W. GE Lnrrn, a citizen oi' the UnitedStates, residing at .N ew Bedford, in the county oiBristol and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful improvements in GearlShifting Apparatus, ol which the following is a specification. o

This invention relates to transmission mechanism for automobiles, trucksand the like, and has for its object the provision of, novel meansoperable hy movement of the clutch pedal for shifting the gears in thetransmission whereby the eliminate use of the well known and commonlyrovided gear shift lever, the advantage hemg that the operator may keepboth hands on the steering wheel at all times.

An important object is the provision oi a mechanism of this characterwhich will he comparatively simple and inexpensive in manufacture, andinstallation, positive in action, eilicient and dura-ble in service anda general improvement in the art.

With the alcove and other objects and advantages in view'the inventionconsists in the details of construction to he hereinafter more lullydescribed and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich; k

Figure l is a view in plan looking toward the gear loon oi an automohiletransmission and showing' my invention applied,

Figure 2 is a. sectional view through the automohile chassis showing anend elevation ci toe device,

' are n is a longitudinal section throu h showing a side elevation of t`e device, l

@are is a detail view ol the retaining memo f',

i TJ is a, detail view illustrating the relative positions ci thesegmental gears,

ti. is a detail perspective view el one oi the har elements of themechanism,

' gare 'l' is a detail side elevation of a the Y fragmentary of the n inelevation, and the losing in section.`

tae han oil gears.

an automobile transmission, and B represents the vhall and socket memberthereon which is movable to eilect shifting of the.

The gears themselves are not illustrated vas they form no part ol thepresent invention and-in the present instance, the device is shown anddescribed in association with a transmission having a standard gearshift, though it should be understood in ad-l Vance that the directionsof movement and relation of the parts may be changed to render thedevice capable of use in connection with gear shifts of other thanstandard arrangement. The letter C indicates the shank oi the clutchpedal D, which pedal is -mounted on a supporting shaft 'E in the usualmanner. The clutch mechanism is likewise not illustrated as it forms nopartof the present invention.,

ln carrying out my invention l provide a shaft l5 mounted in suitablehearings supported from the frame ofthe vehicle, and carrying a hub 16on which are ears 17 between which is pivoted, at 18, an arm 19 normallypulled in one direction by a spring 2G. This arm carries a laterallyextending in 2l v elongated har 23 pivoted at 24 upon and depending fromthe pedal shank @ne end of the slot. 22 merges into a relatively largeopening 25 'for a purpose to he described.

Suitahly mounted upon the :trame of the car is an opstanding bracket 26which is formed at its upper end with a stop shoulder 2'?" and which isharmed in one-edge with notches 28, 29, 30 and 3l corresponding tothe'irst, second, third and reverse positions` oi? the gear shittingmeans within the hon' A. Each notch has a square shoulder and aninclined surface as clearly shown in Figure a, and leading from thelowermost notch 3lI is a relatively long inclined surface 32. lt shouldhe stated. that the pin 2l can"n ries a pair of latches 33 which areurged outwardly Toy springs 3a suitahly housed within the pin as in a.recess, slot or the like. Mounted in ysuitahle hearings 35., are shafts3d and' il? arranged at right angles `which rides along a slot 22 formedin an a@ Sii to the shafts' l5 and E carrying heveled .s all, al, @andwith the gear 38 and the latter two of which are associated with thegear 39. These segmental gears are all arranged at different angles orpositions with respect to the beveled gears so that when the shaft 15 isrotated to dierent extents, the successive segmental gears may bebrought into mesh with the gears38 and 39 as the case may be. i

The shaft'37 carries an arm 44 having a pivotal connection 45 with anarm 46 connected with the joint B,and the shaft 36 carries an arm 47having a pivotal connection 48 with an arm 49 likewise connected withthe joint B.

In the operation, when the clutch'pedal D is moved forwardly anddownwardly in the usual manner, the irst slight movement disengages theclutch as iswell known. When the pedal is moved downwardly toa slightlygreater extent. the engagement of Cil the end of the slot 22 with thepin 21 moves the arm 19 downwardly, and when this arm reaches the firstnotch 28, the spring 20 will bring it into the notch.y As this movementis going on, the segmental gear 40 meshes with the gear 38 and turns theshaft 36. and consequently the arm 47. so that the arm or link 49 willpull the joint B and gear shifting member thereon within the box A intosuch position that the proper gears are in mesh to place thetransmissionin first or low gear.' 'When pressure on the pedal isreleased. the pedal returns to,y normal position so that the clutch isengaged, while the arm 19 still remains in engagement with the notch 28.

To shift into second gear. the operator again presses the pedal D, butto a greater extent than in the first place. and the result will be thatthe downward movement of tbe bracket 23 carried bv the pedal 'shank willcause the upper end of the slot 22 vto re-engage the pin 21 and swingthe arm 19 downwardly out of the first notch 28 into the second notch29. As this additional movement. occurs. the segmental gear 41 comesinto mesh 'with the gear 38 as the gear 40 moves out ot mesh. and theresult is that the gear 38 is additionallv rotated. The resultantmovement of the shaft 36 and arm 47 carried thereby causes the member 49to move the gear shittelement into the second or intermediate gearposition. When pressure on the pedal is relieved it again returns tonormal position. so that the clutch is re-engaged. while the arm 19 isleft in the notch 29.

To throw the mechanism into high gear, the operator presses the pedal athird time, whereupon the bracket 23 lagain moves downwardly until theupper end of the slot 22 re-engages the pin 21 so that the arm 1.9 willhe carried out of the notch 29 int-o the notch 30. At the same time,theseg mental gear 43 meshes with the gear 39 and turns the shaft 37 sothat the arm 44 thereon will swing the member 46 and pull the gearshifting element into such position that the high speed gears are inmesh.' When pressure-on the pedal is again relieved it returns to normalposition with the arm 19 remaining in the notch 30. It should be statedthat a spring 5() is provided surrounding the shaft and having one `endsecured thereto and its other end secured to some stationary support.rlhe purpose-of the spring is to return the shaft to normal positionwhen the pedal is operated properly for accomplishing this.

. After the pedal has been once pressed, shaft 15 cannot return toinitial position until the pedal has been pushed down far enough tocause the latches on part 21 to be forced through the slot on part 23.This is caused by part 19 being forced to the left by being forced downthe inclined surface 32. La-tches 33 now prevent 19 from becoming'engaged in the notches unt-il the pedal has returned to normal positionat which time onlv latches 33 can slip through 25. Once 19 has becomeengaged in a. notch it can be released only by the above process,namely, by pushing pedal far enough down the incline 32 to force thelatches thrbugh the slot in 23. and 19 is released from being held tothe left only when the pedal returns to normal position.

To reverse the car, the same operation is gone through with but theclutch pedal-is pushed downwardly to a still greater extent whereuponthe arm 19 is moved, as above described. into the notch 3l, while thegear 42 meshes with the gear 39 and turns it so that the arms-44 and 46will move the gear shifting element into 'such position that the re-EIl) verse gears in the box A will be in mesh.

Whenever the pedal is pushed all the way down and subsequently released.the wider end or opening 25 of the slot 22 comes opposite the latchmembers 33 and the spring 2O pulling upon the arm 19 causes it to bedrawn through the slot, the latches 33 passing through the wider end sothat the parte mav return to normal or initial position.I

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will beapparent that l have thus provided a very simple and easily installedand operated gear, shift mechanism which is controlled entirely by theclutch pedal and which consequently eliminates use of the gearshitt handlever so 'that the operator may7 leep both hands on the steering wheel.Naturally this is an advantageous feature inasmuch as likelihoodo.

accident is reduced. W rule have shown and described the preferredembodiment ot mv invention itis et' course to be understood that reservethe right to malte such changes in the term, construction andarrangement of parts as will not depart fromthe spirit of the inventionor the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim: f l

1. In combination with the gear shift' ele ment and cluch pedal of amotor yvehicle transmission, arm members connected with said element,rotatable shafts operatively connected with said arms, a shaftoperatively connected with the clutch pedal whereby to be moved therebyand means between said last and first named shafts for rotating theformer to a limited extent.

2. In combination With the clutch pedal and gear shift element'of amotor vehicle transmission, gear shifting means operatively connectedwith the pedal, and comprising a pair of shafts carrying gears andfurther carrying arms. connected with the shifting element, a shaftcarrying segmental gears adapted to mesh With said first named gears,and meansconnected with the 'clutch pedal and said last named shaft forrotating the latter through a predetermined arc.

3. In' combination with the clutch pedal and gear shifty element of .amotor vehicle transmission, gear shifting means operatively connectedwith the pedal,`and com prising a pair of shafts carrying gears andfurther carrying arms connected WithY the shifting element, a shaftcarrying segmental gears adapted to mesh with said first named gears,and means connected with the clutch pedal and said last named shaft forrotating the latter through a' predetermined arc,

and means for returning the last named tively connected With the pedal,and comprising a pair of shafts carrying gears and further carrying armsconnected yWith the shifting element, a shaft carrying segmental gearsadapted to mesh' with said first named gears, and means connected withthe clutch pedal and said last named shaft for rotating the latterthrough a predetermined arc, and stop means for retaining the parts inshifted position.

5. In combination with the clutch pedal and gear shift element of amotor vehicle transmission, gear shifting means operatively connectedWith the pedal, and comprising a pair of shafts carrying gears andfurther carrying arms connected with the shifting element, a shaftcarrying segmental gears adapted to mesh with said first named gears,and means connected with the clutch `pedal and said last named shaft forrotating the latter through a predetermined arc, and stop means forretaining the parts in shifted position and means for effecting releaseof the retaining means.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MARSHALL W. GELETTE.

